Zerco
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Zerco or Zercon (410/420 in
Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It stretched from central present-day Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern present-day Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, ...
- second half of the 5th century in
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
?) was a Moorish dwarf and the
jester A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...
of the
magistri militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...
Aspar Flavius Ardabur Aspar (Greek: Άσπαρ, fl. 400471) was an Eastern Roman patrician and ''magister militum'' ("master of soldiers") of Alanic-Gothic descent. As the general of a Germanic army in Roman service, Aspar exerted great influence on ...
and Aetius and of the Hunnic kings
Bleda Bleda () was a Hunnic ruler, the brother of Attila the Hun. As nephews to Rugila, Attila and his elder brother Bleda succeeded him to the throne. Bleda's reign lasted for eleven years until his death. While it has been speculated by Jordanes th ...
and
Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...
.


Life

In 432 the Byzantine general Aspar was sent to North Africa by
emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''Augustus (title), augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after ...
to support Bonifacius, the governor of the
Diocese of Africa The Diocese of Africa ( la, Dioecesis Africae) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of North Africa, except Mauretania Tingitana. Its seat was at Carthage, and it was subordinate to the Praetorian prefecture of It ...
, against the
Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...
, who he had previously summoned as mercenaries as he intended to revolt against the emperor; here Aspar purchased Zerco, a
Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...
dwarf Dwarf or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore * Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...
, as his personal jester. In 442 the Huns, taking advantage of the Byzantine expedition against the Vandals, invaded
Thracia Thracia or Thrace ( ''Thrakē'') is the ancient name given to the southeastern Balkan region, the land inhabited by the Thracians. Thrace was ruled by the Odrysian kingdom during the Classical and Hellenistic eras, and briefly by the Greek ...
, using as an excuse the fact that the bishop of Margus had desecrated the Hunnic royal tombs. Aspar was sent to negotiate, but he was forced to flee. Zerco was then captured by the Huns and became king Bleda's personal jester. Zerco always accompanied Bleda, who commissioned a special armour for him. On one occasion Zerco escaped, along with other prisoners. Bleda let the other prisoners go, but brought Zerco back. When asked about the reasons for his escape, Zerco told Bleda that he wanted to find a wife, so Bleda married him with one of the queen's handmaidens. Roughly 445, Bleda died. Zerco was inherited by Attila, who didn't like him at all, disgusted or maybe scared by his sight. Some time after, Constantius, Attila's secretary, was crucified for appropriating the treasure of
Sirmium Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous provice of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrians an ...
, which the city bishop had given to him as a ransom for citizens captured during the invasion of Thrace. The treasure had been sold to Roman banker Silvanus. Attila asked for restitution. Aetius sent a delegation to Attila, saying he could not seize the treasure from Silvanus; instead, a monetary compensation was provided. On this occasion Aetius sent to Attila another man also called Constantius to be his new Latin-speaking secretary. It is most probably at this occasion that Zerco was transferred to Aetius as a gift from Attila. Aetius was the ultimate source of Zerco's vicissitudes, as it was Aetius who had pushed Boniface to revolt, instilling distrust between him and the emperess
Galla Placidia Galla Placidia (388–89/392–93 – 27 November 450), daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was a mother, tutor, and advisor to emperor Valentinian III, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life. She was List of Visigothi ...
. Soon after Aetius gave Zerco back to his original owner, Aspar. In 449
Edeko By the name Edeko (with various spellings:Edicon, Ediko, Edica, Ethico) are considered three contemporaneous historical figures, whom many scholars identified as one: *A prominent Hun, who served as both Attila's deputy and his ambassador to the ...
, Attila's advisor and the future father of
Odoacer Odoacer ( ; – 15 March 493 AD), also spelled Odovacer or Odovacar, was a soldier and statesman of barbarian background, who deposed the child emperor Romulus Augustulus and became Rex/Dux (476–493). Odoacer's overthrow of Romulus Augustul ...
, convinced Zerco to return to Attila's court and his wife. At that moment a
Western Roman The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...
embassy, led by Romulus (maternal grandfather of the last Western Roman emperor
Romulus Augustulus Romulus Augustus ( 465 – after 511), nicknamed Augustulus, was Roman emperor of the West from 31 October 475 until 4 September 476. Romulus was placed on the imperial throne by his father, the ''magister militum'' Orestes, and, at that time, ...
), Protromus and Romanus and a Byzantine embassy, led by the historian
Priscus Priscus of Panium (; el, Πρίσκος; 410s AD/420s AD-after 472 AD) was a 5th-century Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generall ...
and Massiminus were visiting Attila's court. Zerco's request to travel with them back to Attila was, however, refused. Priscus described Zerco as of Moorish race; because of the deformity of his body, his lisping and his appearance, he was a source of laughter. He was short, had shoulder humps, twisted feet and a flat nose revealed only by the two nostrils. Nothing is known about Zerco's fate, although he probably spent his last years in Constantinople.


Quote


In popular culture

* Zercon is the protagonist of ''SDSS1416+13B (Zercon, A Flagpole Sitter)'', a composition by singer-songwriter Scott Walker. The 21-minute song appears on his 2012 album ''
Bish Bosch ''Bish Bosch'' is the fourteenth and final solo studio album by American singer Scott Walker (singer), Scott Walker. It was released on 3 December 2012 on 4AD. Walker described it as the final installment in a trilogy that also includes ''Tilt ( ...
'', and follows the jester's attempts to escape the cruelty of Attila's court by ascending through history, eventually becoming the titular
brown dwarf Brown dwarfs (also called failed stars) are substellar objects that are not massive enough to sustain nuclear fusion of ordinary hydrogen ( 1H) into helium in their cores, unlike a main-sequence star. Instead, they have a mass between the most ...
star and freezing to death. * Zerco appears in '' Slave of the Huns'' by
Géza Gárdonyi Géza Gárdonyi, born Géza Ziegler (3 August 1863 – 30 October 1922) was a Hungarian writer and journalist. Although he wrote a range of works, he had his greatest success as a historical novelist, particularly with '' Eclipse of the Cre ...
. *Zercon is portrayed by
Mick Walter Mick Walter (born Michael E. Walter in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, in 1955), often referred to by the stage name Big Mick, is an English actor, musician and puppeteer. He is known for appearing in television comedies, first appearing as Jack Larg ...
in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
docudrama series
Heroes and Villains "Heroes and Villains" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album ''Smiley Smile'' and their unfinished ''Smile'' project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, Wilson envisioned the song as an Old West-themed ...
.


References


Further reading

* Priscus of Paion, Embassy to Attila * Procopius of Cesarea, De Bello Vandalico, book I, chapter III * Christopher Kelly, The End of Empire: Attila the Hun & the Fall of Rome, 2008


External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20010204040700/http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/texts/priscus.html {{Huns Jesters Entertainers with dwarfism